We didn’t have to scratch ours heads for long to figure out why screenshots of Atlus’ movie tie-in R.I.P.D bare a sense of familiarly – it would appear to be a reworked version of the recent XBLA/PSN title God Mode.

That’s not entirely a bad thing – the arena-based third-person shooter had a lot going for it, including a focus on co-operative play and a relentless pace.

Whereas God Mode supported four-players though, R.I.P.D (which stands for Rest in Peace Department, if you’re wondering) will be two-player only. Presumably one player takes control of a virtual Jeff Bridges, while the second player fills Ryan Reynolds’ boots. Or visa versa.

What makes us think the two are going to be very alike? Presentation, visual quality and a few of the effects shown in the screens all seem incredibly similar.

Moreover, Old School Games are including a near identical sounding XP gambling system – God Mode let you earn XP for going into battle without shields and such while R.I.P.D’s press release talks of a “virtual betting system” to gain additional in-game currency.

Of course, the proof will be in the playing as to how close to one another they are. We don’t have long to wait to find out – it’s due this summer, priced at 800 MSP on Xbox Live and £6.99 on PSN and Steam. The movie is out 17th July, so we assume it’ll be released near that date.

Considering that reviews of God Mode were mostly positive, we think it’s already safe to say that it’ll be one of the better movie tie-ins of recent times.

Matt is Games Asylum's most prolific writer, having produced a non-stop stream of articles for the site since 2001. A retro collector and bargain hunter, his knowledge has been found in the pages of tree-based publication Retro Gamer.